Mexico and Sweden advance to last 16 of Fifa U17 World Cup

Italy 0

Mexico 2

Diaz 26’, Ochoa 90+2’

ABU DHABI // Raul Gutierrez, the Mexico coach, believes his team has grown in stature and confidence in the U17 World Cup after a 2-0 win over Italy in the round of 16.

“The players have been working really hard since our first game,” Gutierrez said, referring to the team’s 6-1 loss to Nigeria. “And I am very happy with the outcome of tonight’s game.

“I am more than hopeful we can take this momentum forward to the next game. What I liked was that my players gave everything in this game and demonstrated our true potential and the strength.”

Alejandro Diaz gave the defending champions a half time lead and Ivan Ochoa doubled it in injury time at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

Before learning the identity of their quarter-final opponents, Brazil, who beat Russia 3-1, Gutierrez said Mexico respect all opponents.

“We will see whom we meet next and make our game plan accordingly,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whom we meet, we will be prepared. We will try to maintain a good balance in the team.”

Daniele Zoratto, the Italy coach, was gracious in defeat and said they gained valuable experience from the competition.

“Italy have not featured regularly in this championship, which makes us think that they are not at the same level as Mexico and Uruguay, whom we played,” he said.

“We did quite well, though, to reach the round of 16. The match was close until the final whistle. Mexico scored the second goal in injury time. We know we, too, had chances to score in this game.”

Japan 1

Wahlqvist 56’ (og)

Sweden 2

Berisha 11’, Engvall 36’

Sweden kept the party going at their first Under 17 World Cup with a 2-1 win over Japan in their last-16 game in Sharjah.

The Scandinavians, powerful in the air and fast up the flanks, scored the opening goal after just 11 minutes. Mirza Halvadzic burst up the left side on a lightning counter-attack and crossed for Valmir Berisha, who poked home from point-blank range for his third goal of the finals.

Sweden doubled their lead on 36 minutes when Halvadzic burst up the wing again and fired a tame shot that Teimosii Shiraoka could only fumble. Striker Gustav Engvall was on hand to finish up the rebound for his third goal of the tournament.

Japan reduced the arrears in the second half when Sweden defender Linus Wahlqvist put the ball into his own goal while attempting to clear the danger.

Honduras 1

Bodden 74’

Uzbekistan 0

Sent off

Komilov (Uzbekistan)

Substitute Jorge Bodden grabbed a winner 15 minutes from time as Honduras reached the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan, who had Akramjon Komilov sent off midway through the first half for picking up two yellow cards.

Komilov’s dismissal was the turning point of the game, even though Uzbekistan managed to hold out for 50 minutes with the numerical disadvantage. Brayan Velasquez slipped away from the defender, who tried to stop the Honduras No 7 getting past by grabbing onto his shirt. Referee Pavel Kralovec showed Komilov his second yellow card, and he headed back to the dressing room for an early bath.

Bodden was introduced and tried an effort from distance, which went well wide - but the best was yet to come from the FC Municipal Valencia forward. Alberth Elis slid a through ball towards Velasquez, who turned on the left-hand side of the box to feed a clever pass through to Bodden, who fired in from close range.

Honduras now meet Sweden in the last eight.

apassela@thenational.ae

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Mexico and Sweden advance to last 16 of Fifa U17 World Cup

Defending champions secure place in quarter-finals with 2-0 victory over Italy in Abu Dhabi, while Sweden cause an upset by beating much-fancied Japan 2-1 in Sharjah.